


The Crown Princess

by TheYellowTurtle



Series: ZKDD 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, No Beta We Just Cry, Past Character Death, Zutara Drabble December 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28383789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYellowTurtle/pseuds/TheYellowTurtle
Summary: Growing up, Izumi's favorite spirit was always the Painted Lady.(Day 28: Heavenly)
Relationships: Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: ZKDD 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076558
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	The Crown Princess

**Author's Note:**

> CW: Katara is dead

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Izumi?”

“I have a confession.”

“Oh? What would you like to confess?” 

“I know I’m the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, but the Sun Spirit is not my favorite.” 

“They aren’t? Well, Izumi, who is your favorite then?”

“... The Painted Lady.”

“...”

“Daddy! Don’t laugh! What if the Fire Sages arrest me for treason?!”

“They’re not going to arrest you for treason, my little turtleduck. They don’t even have the power to do that.” 

“They don’t?” 

“No, they don’t.”

“Okay, so I’m not going to get into trouble?”

“Of course not.”

“Really?”

“Really, I promise.”

“Okay.” 

“Do you wanna hear a secret, Izumi?”

“Yes! What secret?”

“This is just between you and me, so you can’t tell anyone else.” 

“I won’t!”

“Good.”

“So what’s the secret?”

“To be honest, the Painted Lady is also my favorite.” 

___

Izumi was obsessed with the Painted Lady growing up. 

She asked her dad to read the folktales over and over again at bedtime. She cleared away the stray leaves and twigs at the Spirit’s shrine without being told. She was caught more than once rifling through her mother’s chest in order to find the perfect shade for her Painted Lady makeup. She even used to pretend to be the Painted Lady during their Ember Island vacations, and would go around throwing buckets of seawater on sandcastles with a cry of “No polluting!” 

Izumi devoured all the content she could get her hands on about the heavenly figure, but she did not learn the truth until she was in her late teens. 

It was only once she had begun to learn more about how her dad, aunts and uncles were involved in ending the war that she made the connection between her dad’s annual pilgrimage to the Painted Lady Temple in Fire Fountain City and the death anniversary of Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. 

Izumi had learned about Katara through the storybending performances of the South, through Aunt Toph disciplining her metalbending students, and through the picture book personally made by Aunt Suki and Uncle Sokka gifted to her one year for Summer Solstice. Uncle Aang always used to say that Katara was in the Spirit World now, but Izumi never thought he meant it literally. 

It is only when Izumi accompanies her dad on his annual trip to Fire Fountain City and joins him during his visit to the temple, that she finally realizes the truth. There was a reason the Painted Lady’s face shared a striking resemblance to the face of a certain waterbender. And there was a reason her dad looked like _that_ as he made his offering to the Spirit. 

The Painted Lady and Katara were one and the same, and he was in love with her. 

**Author's Note:**

> This drabble fits within the universe of my other fic [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27961385/chapters/68481761). It goes more into how Katara passes away, and how the other characters mourn and celebrate her memory.


End file.
